by Chris Sisco
on August 13 2010
in Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
Limited Budget + Negative Keywords = Affordable SEM Campaign
We spend numerous hours with keyword research and keyword selection when constructing our PPC campaign. However, if we are on a tight budget and don’t have time to put towards strenuous keywords research, we can save time by understanding the power of negative keywords.
For example – We are an online hat store that makes 100SPF hats for kids and adults. We have 2 adgroups which are “Kids Hats” and “Adult Hats”. First instinct is to create keywords for these adgroups based on target market and product. For example
- "kids hats"
- “kids spf hat”
- “kid spf hat”
- “children spf hat”
- “children spf hats”
- “childrens spf hat”
- “childrens spf hats”
- “boys spf hat”
- “boys spf hats
- “boy spf hats”
- “girls spf hat”
- “girl spf hat”
- Etc x 100 more variations + keyword modifiers
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- "adult spf hats”
- “womans spf hats”
- “womens spf hats”
- “mens spf hats”
- “mans spf hats”
- “man spf hat”
- “grown up spf hat”
- “grown ups spf hat”
- “men spf hats”
- “adults spf hat”
- “adult spf hat”
- Etc x 100 more variations + keyword modifiers
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If we use negative keywords, we can eliminate this strenuous work and account for numerous variations! Keep in mind; this is just to save time and money. A thorough SEM campaign would include all types of variations.
- “spf hats"
- “spf hat”
- “uv hats”
- “u.v. hat”
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- “spf hats"
- “spf hat”
- “uv hats”
- “u.v. hat”
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- Adults
- Adult
- Women
- Woman
- Men
- Mens
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- Kids
- Kid
- Childrens
- Children
- Boys
- Boy
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Broad Keywords + Negative Matching = Economically Friendly Broad Keywords
If you want to use broad keywords but still be economically friendly, you can use negative keywords to filter out unwanted traffic. For example – you are a trampoline company and want to use the broad keyword “trampoline”. You run a quick report to see what search queries are triggering your broad keyword
Springfree Trampoline
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"spring free", springfree
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Don't sell spring free trampolines
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| Free Trampolines |
free |
Don't have free trampolines |
| Springless Trampoline |
springless, "spring less" |
Don't sell springless trampolines |
| Costco Trampoline |
costco |
We're not Costco |
| Water Trampoline |
water, pool |
Don't sell pool trampolines |
This technique is used to filter out as much unwanted traffic as possible. You’ll still see the odd query trigging your ad but at least you are filtering out the heavy hitters that trigger a large amount of impressions.
Broad Keywords + Reports = Keyword Scouting
Using broad keywords can enable you to discover keywords you never thought of before! You can run the search query report and see what people have been querying to trigger your broad keywords. This report also gives insight into new ad groups! For example (using the broad keyword Sun Hat)
Sun block hats for children under 8
|
"sun block hats" |
| UPF hats for vacations |
"upf hats" |
| Sun screen hats for toddlers |
"sun screen hats" |
This can be a costly choice so use this strategy wisely and ensure that broad keywords are checked on a routine basis.